Subject: From: Date:

Re: [ECS] Remote Phone Sessions Bill Walters Wed, 26 Aug 1998 12:11:20 -0500

---

Well, the most obvious to me is being able to do just about anything I can code in
ECS with any phone in the house or by a phone call when I'm away.  I have entirely
separate events (yes, with many duplicates but there's a reason...) for remote
phone sessions and local phone sessions.  For example, when I call into the house
from my mobile, I receive voice prompts confirming each command and I even created
a "help" file which will play if requested (by pressing H#).  No voice
confirmations are made in Local Phone Sessions, since someone is likely standing
there waiting for whatever to be accomplished and can visually see that it was
indeed done.   I use my phone sessions for things such as:

    Retrieve All messages
    Retrieve New messages
    Make new outgoing message
    Page-on-Call ON/OFF
    Log all Incoming & Outgoing calls w/date,number,time & duration of call
        (outgoing call logging available only with BIGMOUTH or PBX)
    Phone RING ON/OFF (yet to be implemented)
    Theater Mode ON/OFF (not in remote session)
    Entertain Mode ON/OFF (not in remote session)
    Wakeup/Goodnight (not in remote session)
    HVAC Control (upstairs/Den/Master; yet to be implemented)

    ....etc., etc., etc.

When I was just starting my HA project I purchased "Automated Home Control" and it
suggested using the JDS telecommander in that setup.  However, I was not impressed
by the need to set lights at certain housecodes/items to make them readily
"rememberable" by the wife/kids.  I admit that I'm a "techno-freak" but I don't
get to live in this house alone and one of the purposes I had in mind was to make
HA as friendly, usable and convenient as possible for the family.  I think ECS has
done this and done so in spades...  Plus, I got my BIGMOUTH board via the 'net for
$50 plus shipping!  Ya' gotta love a bargain!

I also like the fact that "control" is directly within ECS and not subject to
collision, noise or whatever that sometimes effects X-10 signals.

The basic "problem" with use of Local Phone events is that the new ECS (W95
version only) doesn't support the BIGMOUTH board which is the ONLY board that
supports Local Phone events (unless you've popped for a PBX system with the added
wiring, etc., etc.)  A number of us would like to use ECS (W95) as it has better
synthetic speech output than STATESMAN, some ability for voice commands and
allowing integrated use of such software as ACE (for touchscreen's or remote
computers dedicated to HA control through ECS).

Local phone control might not be such a big deal if I were willing to use one of
two alternatives:  2-Way IR control or Phone PBX.  Cheapest 2-way IR controller
I've found was $199 from Micromint.  It communicates via serial but is not
directly supported by ECS.  Then there's the JDS unit, at $299 or you can go "big
time" and get one of the Dancraft units.   Past $200 my interest begins to fade
rapidly in IR control.  I'm not really interested in purchasing/installing a PBX
unit as I live in a 2story house and re-running all the phone wiring would be
simply a nightmare!  Also, we use 2 line phones with one of those dedicated to my
wife's job.  The third line is fax only.  I'm sure one of the Panasonic units
would work just fine but again, I don't want the hassle of installing all of it.

Finally, if I EVER get my touchscreens up and running with decent 2-way data flow,
perhaps I'll be satisfied with that and won't need local phone sessions; but I
won't know until I get there...

Not too sure if all that helped but thought I'd chime in there with my 2-cents
worth.

Bill Walters


Frank Herron Charlotte NC wrote:

> Since way before ECS I have been using a JDS TelleCommander.  It takes
> Touchtone signals from a phone, and generates X10 signals onto the powerline.
> You get like 99 codes with an ON and OFF for each.  I use this to communicate
> to ECS.  Works very well for inbound commands.  What advantages do these ECS
> "local Sessions" have that you are willing to spend big bucks on, that a piece
> of hardware cant do?  Thanks, Frank

---